Attempted Murder or First-degree Assault?

The man,
Darrin D. Maiden, is alleged to have shot a 27-year-old woman
on Montgomery Avenue and fled the scene Tuesday afternoon. He has
yet to be caught.

However, when I received the court documents charging Maiden
from the Kitsap County Clerk’s Office, a warrant for attempted
murder — despite the cops’ request for that charge in court
documents — was nowhere to be found. Instead, it was for
first-degree assault.

“What gives?” I asked Kitsap County Deputy Prosecutor Chris
Casad.

Casad told me this morning that in order to charge attempted
murder, a prosecutor must prove to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt
that the defendant was indeed attempting to kill someone.

Six fired bullets to some of us would indicate that. However,
evidence, Casad said must back that claim up (Such as: a witness
reporting the person’s plan to kill someone).

In the current charge of first-degree assault with a deadly
weapon, a prosecutor would need to prove to a jury that the
defendant intended to inflict great bodily harm. That, Casad said,
is not as high a burden of proof.

The reason all this matters, Casad added, is that the
time-for-the-crime between the first-degree assault and attempted
murder isn’t that much different. Both are class A felonies,
punishable by up to life imprisonment.

The science of law! To me six shots at close range would seem easy to prove to a jury that it was an intent to kill. I find this crazy. Even the time they spent looking for this guy in comparison to the manhunt for Mr. Gavin a suspected meth dealer with a DOC warrant a couple of weeks ago. Absurd

I could be wrong on this but I believe in this county they charge the most serious offense in many cases because since sentences are run concurrently, the violation of the no contact order would not add any additional time. Thats why I hope that the exceptional sentence will apply.

… if…”(a) Assaults another with a firearm or any deadly weapon or by any force or means likely to produce great bodily harm or death; or …”
constitutes a Class A Felony Assault charge, what more is needed for a murder charge?
Sharon O’Hara